December eurozone retail sales flat: data (AFP)

LONDON — Mention it quietly, but there were rare hopeful signs for Europe’s struggling economy on Friday. Three pieces of economic news for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro were all slightly better than hoped — in sharp contrast to some of the grim days the eurozone has witnessed over the last three years of its crisis over too much debt.

LONDON — Mention it quietly, but there were rare hopeful signs for Europe’s struggling economy on Friday. Three pieces of economic news for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro were all slightly better than hoped — in sharp contrast to some of the grim days the eurozone has witnessed over the last three years of its crisis over too much debt.

BRUSSELS — Eurozone factory output continued its steep fall in autumn this year, underscoring the feeble domestic demand that risks prolonging the bloc’s recession. Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell 1.4% in October after falling sharply in September, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday. That was much worse than the modest growth expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales barely rose in January as tax increases and higher gasoline prices restrained spending, suggesting a slowdown in the pace of consumer spending early in the first quarter. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday retail sales edged up 0.1% after an unrevised 0.5% rise in December. The modest gain, which was in line with economist’s expectations, suggested that households were responding to the expiration of a 2% payroll tax cut on Jan. 1. Taxes also went up for wealthy Americans.

It’s pretty grim really. These surveys are pointing to a pretty deep recession LONDON/SINGAPORE — Eurozone factories sank deeper into recession in December as new orders tumbled, business surveys showed on Wednesday, a sharp contrast to continuing signs of revival in China. U.S. manufacturing reports, to be released later in the day, are expected to show activity in the world’s largest economy to have expanded modestly.